Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Innovative city food production initiatives are re-emerging in high, middle, and low-income countries. In recent years, urban agriculture (UA) has become widespread as one of multi-functional food production practices that shape urban food systems in different socioeconomic contexts. However, the presence of UA in deprived neighborhoods challenges researchers to understand that little is known about the characteristics and motivations of UA practitioners. Furthermore, there is limited information on how the motivations may differ across two different cities. The aim of this presentation is to examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations based on perceived benefits and challenges of UA practitioners in deprived neighborhoods of two cities with different socioeconomic contexts. A total of n= 36 UA practitioners and n=8 UA promotors were purposively interviewed in Montreal and Quito. We also used a questionnaire to obtain socioeconomic data of UA practitioners’ participants. The interview guides included open-ended questions to describe a typology and motivations of UA practitioners in the two cities. Amongst the salient points that emerged from the study, Psycho-Eco and Socio-engaged practitioners are more present in Montreal whereas the Expert and Heroic characterized the practitioners in Quito. The findings also indicate that the motivations in both cities are related to provision of healthy food, health and wellbeing, empowerment, social capital, and economic rewards. We argue that these motivations are health-related factors that should influence policies to encourage UA in deprived neighborhoods.